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Over the past five trading days, there have been quite a few updates in the airline space. Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV - Free Report) grabbed headlines with an announcement of hike in its quarterly dividend and approval of a new buyback plan.

Southwest Airlines’ investor-friendly updates apart, the past week saw Airlines for America (‘A4A’) — the largest airline trade association in the United States — unveiling a bullish projection for the upcoming summer season (Jun 1-Aug 31). The association expects the season will be the busiest one for U.S. carriers in terms of air travel.

United Continental Holdings, Inc. (UAL - Free Report) also featured in the headlines as the chief financial officer (CFO) of its subsidiary — United Airlines — decided to step down from his position.. Meanwhile, JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU - Free Report) announced the appointment of a new chief operating officer (COO).

1. Southwest Airlines has rewarded shareholders with 28% dividend hike and a new share repurchase authorization worth $2 billion on the back of impressive results and a strong cash flow, arising from huge savings on account of the U.S. tax reform (Read more: Southwest Shares Up on Dividend Hike & New Buyback Program).

3. Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL - Free Report) announced a new route from New York. The carrier will begin non-stop service connecting New York-JFK with Orange County, CA from Oct 15, 2018 onward. Markedly, this new route adds to the existing 10 daily non-stop flights between JFK and Los Angeles (Read more: Delta to Expand in New York With Flights to Orange County).

4 In a bid to improve its efficiency and drive long-term growth, low-cost carrier JetBlue Airways appointed Joanna Geraghty as its president and COO. The company intends to announce other management changes in the coming days, with the same objective.

Geraghty, who joined JetBlue in 2005, will oversee the day-to-day airline operations of the carrier and will strive to improve its customer service, apart from efficient cost management among other things. She will also supervise JetBlue’s commercial team. Prior to being appointed as the COO, Geraghty was serving as the carrier’s executive vice president, customer experience.

5. According to a projection by A4A, companies in the airline space will make hay in the upcoming summer season. Per the forecast, approximately 246.1 million passengers (2.68 million fliers per day) will be transported by U.S. airlines this summer, up 3.7% from the 2016 levels.

In fact, to meet the surge in travel demand, the U.S. carriers are increasing the number of available seats by 116,000 per day. Also, with the U.S. economy improving and consumer confidence remaining strong, more Americans are taking vacations.

Further, declining air fares in addition to a much-improved job market and rising disposable income have provided added incentive for consumers to opt for air travel. Driven by the above reasons, the three-month period is likely to see 96,000 additional passengers taking to the skies per day on various U.S. carriers.

6. Ryanair Holdings reported financial and operating numbers with net profit for fiscal 2018 up 10% year over year at €1,450 million despite a 3% decline in average airfares. The top line expanded 8% to €7,151 million on the back of a 9% rise in traffic to 130 million. Meanwhile, lower costs aided the bottom line. Moreover, load factor came in at 95%.

The carrier also issued an outlook for fiscal 2019, which was “on the pessimistic side of cautious” with oil prices rising. Unit costs are projected to increase by 9%. Average fares are expected to be flat in fiscal 2019. Traffic is anticipated to grow by 9%, with load factor remaining flat. The carrier remains concerned about a Brexit-related impact.

Performance

The following table shows the price movement of the major airline players over the past week and during the last six months.

Company

Past Week

Last 6 months

HA

0.3%

-0.4%

UAL

-0.1%

5.1%

GOL

2.7%

-1.1%

DAL

0.0%

1.8%

JBLU

-3.1%

-4.9%

AAL

-2.6%

-6.8%

SAVE

-1.9%

-4.7%

LUV

-4.9%

-2.3%

CPA

-0.5%

-8.2%

ALK

-2%

6.8%

The table above shows that most airline stocks traded in the red in the past week leading to the 1.6% decline in the NYSE ARCA Airline Index. Over the last six months, the sector tracker gained 0.4%.

What's Next in the Airline Space?

With the earnings season over, stay tuned for the usual news updates in the space.

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